The Reading Chair

I am a reader, happily married to a tv watcher. Most nights, while he watches, I read.
Sometimes, he’ll rewind a show to show me a particularly funny or interesting scene. Sometimes, I’ll ask him to pause it while I read him a particularly funny or interesting passage.
There are a few shows I find worthy enough to put down whatever book I’m reading and watch with him. There are a few books he finds worthy enough to click the tv off and read.
A tv watcher and a reader… against the odds, we make it work.
Doesn’t that sound like the premise of a great tv show book?

What I’ve Been Reading
I’m all over the place lately. From classics to non-fiction to YA to light romance (but no bodice ripping for me).
Here’s a sampling of what has been on my nightstand:

Across the Universe
Loved it. YA distopian future society, murder mystery, and even a bit of romance all taking place on board a giant space ship.
The very first scene, of the protagonist’s mother being cryogenically frozen for a 300 year flight to a new planet, hooked me right in. I happily stayed up too late for a couple of nights in order to finish.
Can’t wait to read book two.

The Seer of Shadows
A deliciously creepy ghost story set in the early days of the art of photography. A short read, I finished in one evening, but I haven’t stopped thinking of it.

What I’ve Been Reading to Newt

Poems of William Blake Free for Kindle
These poems are a mixed bag. There have been some that we both have really enjoyed (The Lamb, The Chimney Sweeper) and others that have been less than interesting (The Laughing Song, The Blossom). And then there is the rather racist The Little Black Boy. I skipped over that one…

The Princess and the Goblin Also free for Kindle
This is the first time I have ever read this classic fairy-tale. I’m glad I found it; it’s a good one. Newt can’t wait to see how Princess Irene and her friend Curdie, the miner boy, will outwit the goblins that live under the mountain.

What We’ve Been Listening To
We both love a good CD in the car. Our latest choice is Ella Enchanted. This is such a fun twist on the Cinderella classic story, and I love the youthful voice of the narrator. She sounds familiar… I wonder is she has done some of the Dear America audiobooks.
Note: If you have seen the movie, it really, really does not do the book justice. The book has far more depth and feeling.

What Newt Has Been Reading
Lucille Ball: Pioneer of Comedy
This is for next month’s History’s Heroines Club. It’s fun to hear Newt tell me facts about the I Love Lucy Show. We rented a DVD of season two and both laughed out loud several times watching Lucy try to “teach Ricky a lesson”. Even after all these years, Lucille Ball is still relevant and funny.

A Series of Unfortunate Events
Newt rediscovered these on our bookshelf a few weeks ago and has been working her way through the series. I enjoyed them when I read them a few years ago too – all but the last one. I’m not telling Newt that though. I wonder if she’ll find the end as annoying as I did?

What’s on you nightstand right now?

2 Comments

  1. I have just flew through the 7 books in the Tomorrow series by John Marsden ( LOVED THEM!!!) and now I have started on the 3 books from the Ellie series which are a sequel to the Tomorrow series.

    About Unfortunate events…. us too… the unsatisfying ending. We ended up getting the follow up Beatrice Letters. We had high hopes but while they were interesting they did nothing to tie up stuff. Maybe he plans on writing more?

    Reply
    • I’ll have to look into the Tomorrow series.
      As for Lemony Snicket – I get the feeling he never really knew where he was going with things… I don’t expect any more in that series.

      Reply

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